It seemed like a good idea at the time. One that was supposed to be an easy way to make ‘playtime’ educational. A way to enhance creativity and develop a sense of imagination and potential. When we bought our three-year-old son his first LEGO set - a LEGO Duplo Fire Station Playset - we thought we were making a smart choice.

Most people don’t like small talk — we’re all far too busy and important, and just want to get on with whatever it is we’re doing. The thing is, every person we meet has the potential to impact our lives in some way.

We learn lessons from the most unlikely of places. We learn them at school, at home, and at work. Sometimes we even learn them from TV. Here are some lessons we can apply to our professional lives from the world of HBO phenomenon Game of Thrones.

While eating lunch at a recent industry event, I had the privilege of listening to one of Australia’s eminent political journalists. Normally, discourses on politics and economics render me senseless with boredom, so I sat there pretending to concentrate and trying my best not to spill something on my shirt.

It’s difficult to imagine just how much impact a broken limb can have. There are the immediate concerns such as restricted movement, difficulty dressing oneself, and of course the horrific pain. But for Shane Brady, an Account Manager at Sear Insurance Brokers, a broken arm was the catalyst for a brand new adventure.

Insurance is an industry built around relationships. It’s an industry that sells advice, guidance and protection rather than tangible products. We connect with our clients, care about their homes, their livelihoods and do what we can to ensure they’re able to get back on their feet when things go bad. But with technology driving the world into an uncertain future, that connection doesn’t seem to be happening with the younger generation. The question is why?

It’s a question that gets asked a lot but how do we really answer it? Our careers are littered with facts and figures, accomplishments all, but what makes one stand out against another. Recruiters are constantly telling us to list our accomplishments. ‘That’s what they want to see,’ they say. But when you’re sitting in an interview for a new role or talking to your manager at review time or simply reflecting on your career, how do you rank one accomplishment against another?

Trust. It’s described as difficult to earn but easy to lose. But what makes us trust people, companies, ourselves? Greek philosopher Epicurus said “It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.” Epicurus believed that people were most content when they felt a sense of security that should things go wrong, their friends would be there to help. They trust them. Have confidence in them.

A man sits alone in a bank of empty seats at the airport. Weary and frustrated, he flicks mindlessly from email to email, the dim light of his phone flickering with each swipe, his hunched shadow dancing on the wall behind him. Words shimmer across his eyes but nothing sinks in. This latest flight delay has defeated him.

Internationally in business, the burden of raising a family and maintaining a career is difficult for many women, studies tell us. While some new mothers take the maximum amount of paid parental leave available, the majority don’t. Three-quarters cite financial pressure as the main reason for returning to work early.

We all have an inner voice (mine sounds like Kelsey Grammer) that tells us, urges us to have a difficult conversation with someone – the type of conversation that would improve life at the office for ourselves and for everyone else in our team immeasurably. But either fear of confrontation, apprehension or anxiety drowns out that inner voice and the conversation never happens.

Ten years on from Hurricane Katrina, we can confidently say that quality of exposure data has improved dramatically. Companies across the world are taking a far more rational approach to model-based business decisions and many multinational reinsurance companies and intermediaries, have and continue to invest heavily in model research and evaluation.

There are about eight billion connected mobile devices in today’s world where more people travel between borders than ever before. Technology is the great enabler, but what threats does it also present? ANZIIF’s Edward Vukovic reports.

Think about this for a moment. A statement like this immediately conjures up some pretty positive vibes. It’s easy to discount such a comment as a pithy throwaway line, but according to Richard Wyatt, Chief Underwriting Officer, Ansvar Insurance, it typifies exactly what the industry means to its customers and practitioners.

Low-hanging gums creak welcomingly as we make our way down the cracked, undulating pathway. My son – torn between scurrying ahead and staying close to me – surveys the expanse of green lawn before us, trying to pick out an ally, his hand gripping mine. He soon spots one and I feel his hand worm its way out of mine until the sensation is no more than a memory. I watch him run along the path, the stops in his boots clattering on the concrete like a billy goat on a bridge. He weaves his way through the burgeoning crowd of parents and volunteers and joins his friend in a game of kick to kick.

Nestled amidst a smattering of research papers, award submissions and project plans a smartphone shudders to life. Its insistence stems the flow of fingertips on a keyboard and a cursory glance at the caller ID shows the name of a family member.